With Bruce Miller, there might be something else going on

Tight end Bruce Miller’s alleged plunge off the deep end makes no sense. Affable and thoughtful, Miller was one of the rare athletes who would walk across a parking lot to greet and ask how YOU were doing. A rare quality indeed for sometimes self-obsessed athletes who often view the media as the enemy.

So Miller’s arrest for battery after he allegedly put a 29-year-old man and his 70-year-old father in the hospital reportedly with facial fractures seems wildly out of character. Miller’s bizarre night began with a dispute over sandwiches at Tommy’s Joynt, a famous eatery in San Francisco. It then moved to the Fisherman’s Wharf Marriott, when Miller allegedly became angered when hotel staff told Miller there were no vacancies.

Miller’s arrest is no more or less surprising than that of Ray McDonald or Aldon Smith. McDonald is out of football after several arrests for domestic abuse and sexual assault. Smith’s latest brush with the law involved alleged vandalism and a suspected DUI. Smith, now a Raider, is serving a year suspension imposed by the NFL that could end in November.

All three of these men I found to be calm, composed and intelligent. In McDonald’s and Miller’s cases, nothing in college or their early career suggested this immersion into the dark side. As a friend of mine once said, our minds are accidents brought on by forces beyond our control. Indeed our inputs from parents, friends and our communities can embed demons that flourish in times of stress.

Who knows what the influences were in the cases of Miller, Smith and McDonald. There’s also something else equally as insidious working against football players- chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It would be a surprise if the disease did not cause erratic behavior by at least one or two of these three players.

CTE is brought on by head trauma either through being concussed or through a series of sub-concussions or a combination of both. What’s important to remember about CTE is it can occur without a diagnosed concussive incident.

Certainly as a fullback, Miller was subjected to plenty of knocks on the head as a lead blocker against bigger players such as linebackers and defensive ends. Meanwhile symptoms of CTE, according to the Mayo Clinic, include impulsiveness, aggression, emotional instability, irritability and substance abuse (Miller was said to be intoxicated).

Other symptoms include depression and suicidal thoughts. Unfortunately, NFL players with CTE have committed suicide including Junior Seau, Dave Duerson, Jevon Belcher, Terry Long, Ray Easterling to name a few.

The NFL, and possibly individual teams, have an obligation to investigate whether CTE is a factor in the erratic behavior of some of their players, particularly those who suddenly become violent and disruptive.

Some might say that professional football is a violent game played by violent men, which is not necessarily true. On average, 1 in 30 NFL players gets arrested and that includes non-violent crimes such as DUI or drug possession. For non-NFL players aged 22 to 35, the arrest rate is 1 in 15.

Overwhelmingly, NFL players are earnest, hard-working citizens just like anybody else who rises to the top of their profession. That’s why any arrest by an NFL player should prompt an examination for CTE symptoms, particularly if a player is arrested multiple times which occurred with Miller, Smith and McDonald.

The research of CTE is too significant to simply toss players aside for their deeply self-destructive behavior. There violence may be the result of a life devoted to this beloved game, and that’s something we all should face.